EVIL~! alkeiper

1998 New York Yankees (Cena's Writer) vs. 1946 Boston Red Sox (humanoid92) '46 Red Sox 9, '98 YANKEES 7 WP: Jim Bagby (1-0) LP: Mariano Rivera (0-2) Sv: Bob Klinger (4) Chili Davis put the Yankees ahead with a grand slam in the first inning. The Red Sox battled back however, tying the game at 7. The Sox scored two in the ninth, the first when Mariano Rivera walked in a run. '46 Red Sox 10, '98 YANKEES 8 (12 Innings) WP: Earl Johnson (1-0) LP: Darren Holmes (0-1) Sv: Clem Dreisewerd (1) Chuck Knoblauch hit two home runs and collected five RBIs. The Red Sox again battled back, tying the game in the seventh on Rudy York's RBI double. In the twelveth, Hal Wagner broke open the game with an RBI single and Wally Moses followed with a three-run RBI double. The Yankees scored two in the bottom frame, but Clem Dreisewerd induced Paul O'Neill to ground out with two runners on base to end the game. '98 Yankees 15, '46 RED SOX 7 WP: David Cone (3-0) LP: Mace Brown (1-1) The Yankees brutalized Sox pitching in the middle innings. Paul O'Neill hit a grand slam in the ninth. Tino Martinez went 5 for 6 and scored three runs. '46 RED SOX 2, '98 Yankees 0 WP: Tex Hughson (4-1) LP: David Wells (2-1) After the offensive performance of the Yankees in the first three games, the Sox needed a big pitching performance. Ace Tex Hughson delivered a complete game shutout, striking out eight batters. Johnny Pesky hit an RBI single, and Ted Williams cracked a solo home run. '98 Yankees 6, '46 RED SOX 5 WP: Graeme Lloyd (3-0) LP: Bob Klinger (1-1) Sv: Mariano Rivera (4) The Yankees took an early 5-0 lead, but the Red Sox battled back to tie the game in the seventh. In the ninth, Bernie Williams struck an RBI single to give the Yankees the lead. Mariano Rivera got Ted Williams to ground into a double play to end the game. Bernie went 5 for 5 with 4 RBIs, a double and home run in the victory. '98 YANKEES 8, '46 Red Sox 2 WP: David Cone (4-0) LP: Mickey Harris (1-1) Tino Martinez hit two solo home runs and Jorge Posada hit a three-run shot to break open the game. '46 Red Sox 12, '98 YANKEES 2 WP: Tex Hughson (5-1) LP: Orlando Hernandez (1-2) The Red Sox did their damage with a nine-run second inning. Bobby Doerr hit two home runs in the inning, a two-run home run early on and then a three-run shot with two outs. Tex Hughson kept the Yankees in check for five innings to earn the victory on short rest. '46 Red Sox win series 4-3 An upset perhaps, but remember over the course of a 162 game schedule their win/loss record is equivalent to 109-53. The Sox got good pitching from their ace and their bullpen got the job done. The Red Sox advance to the finals to join the Twins and Mariners. Up Next: '95 Braves vs. '86 Mets

The Orioles have compiled a better record than the Blue Jays once in the last nine years. The last finished above .500 in 1997. What exactly have they done to merit a third place prediction? They have an ace in Erik Bedard and a nice prospect in Adam Loewen. That's not enough. The Jays have Halladay and Burnett. The Orioles have one legitimate offensive star in Miguel Tejada, the Jays have three with Vernon Wells, Frank Thomas and Troy Glaus. The Jays won 87 games last year and added Frank Thomas. The Orioles look good if they existed in a vacuum. They're not, the other 29 teams made move to improve their teams as well. I would pick them 4th, but 5th place is more likely than 3rd.

The Sheik. Awesome.

My thoughts on the Central. I'm not tremendously high on the Indians. Their runs scored/allowed was better than their record, but even better luck doesn't make them a 90 win team. They added good role players but their rotation is still probably third or fourth in the division. I am high on the Twins. People forget they actually won the Central last year, and four of the last five. Their key position players are returning, and they have young talented pitching coming up still. There is no reason to think they can not win again, and at this point they deserve the benefit of the doubt. The Tigers' season was the result of an entire pitching staff coming together. Look at Nate Robertson's peripherals from 2004-06 and tell me what the difference was. This stuff can be fickle, and if they didn't beat the Twins with all that coming together last year, I can't see it happening this year. The White Sox haven't made tremendous moves either and it's hard to see much on that team getting better besides Brian Anderson. I think the Sox need to cut ship with some of their 2005 regulars who have become unproductive, particularly Scott Podsednik and Jose Uribe.

Hamilton making the bigs at all is a pretty stunning development. Personally, I would take it with a grain of salt until he actually makes it to the bigs and produces. Realistically, we're talking about a 25 year old with no professional experience above A ball. He's hit in 14 Spring Training games against the back end of teams. Josh Hamilton is 19 for 39, and yes that is superficially impressive. Willie Bloomquist is 20 for 49. Todd Linden is 20 for 50. Michael Ryan is 17 for 40. Matt Kata is 15 for 31. Maybe this is real talent from Josh Hamilton. But Spring Training numbers are MEANINGLESS. I can't stress that enough.

The Phillies lost Justin Germano on waivers to the San Diego Padres. I suspect Karim Garcia is going to make the team so they need a roster slot.

This is something I haven't seen here before. We've discussed the best Wrestlemania matches, but what about the worst? My vote goes to Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper from Wrestlemania II. A badly worked boxing match that did more to expose professional wrestling than promote it.

Different circumstances sure. Type two diabetes isn't something debilitating though. It's a condition that makes you feel rotten if your sugar level goes high or low. I'm tempted to say that now that it is diagnosed and controlled, he might be in BETTER condition than before.

The diabetes will not be a factor. I have type one and I function fine.

As far as the crime point, you see that in courtrooms. Basically when the lawyer knows he can not win on the facts of a case, he has to resort to that type of tactic. It is not that he believes it is a valid point, but it is the only shot he has of winning. As far as Lebron goes, up to six games would be improved slightly if he were still in college to play in the tournament. The trade-off would be that 82 NBA games would be worse because one of the game's superstars was not in his rightful place. What sense does that make? The appeal of the NBA is that it is the ELITE basketball league in the world. If a player is good enough to rank among the top 360 players in the world (30 teams x 12 players), he should play. If that player happens to be 18-19, let him go and pad his legend.

Two games each, one home and one away. Each team will play a total of six games, the team with the best record will win the tournament.

1976 Cincinnati Reds (Imarkout4eldandy) vs. 2006 Minnesota Twins (Vern Gagne) '06 Twins 9, '76 REDS 6 WP: Francisco Liriano (3-0) LP: Jack Billingham (0-3) Sv: Joe Nathan (7) The Twins brutalized Billingham, scoring seven runs in the first three innings. The Reds scored six runs in the middle innings but could not quite close the gap. Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter both collected three RBIs in the victory. Billingham will not start game five in this series. '76 REDS 6, '06 Twins 2 WP: Pat Zachry (4-0) LP: Boof Bonser (1-1) Five consecutive hits in the fifth led to five Reds' runs. Cesar Geronimo led off with a triple and four singles followed. Joe Morgan hit a home run and collected three RBIs in the victory. '76 Reds 8, '06 TWINS 3 WP: Fred Norman (2-1) LP: Johan Santana (3-1) Leading 1-0 in the eighth, the Reds exploded for seven runs. Dave Conception and Ken Griffey tripled, and Twins pitchers issued three walks and a hit batter. Johan Santana allowed four runs in seven plus innings of work. Fred Norman pitched seven scoreless innings. '76 Reds 14, '06 TWINS 6 WP: Gary Nolan (4-0) LP: Scott Baker (0-1) Yet again the Reds' offense simply brutalizes the Twins' pitching staff. The Reds tagged Brad Radke for three runs in two innings, and another run off Carlos Silva. The Twins battled back, tying the game in the fourth. Scott Baker allowed four runs in the fifth, and the rout was on. The Reds scored another five runs in the seventh. '06 TWINS 12, '76 Reds 4 WP: Francisco Liriano (4-0) LP: Don Gullett (0-2) Benching Billingham worked as well as can be expected. Replacement starter Don Gullett allowed eight runs in the first inning. Luis Castillo and Nick Punto collected three RBIs apiece, and Joe Mauer hit a two-run home run. '06 Twins 4, '76 Reds 1 WP: Boof Bonser (2-1) LP: Pat Zachry (4-1) Boof Bonser delivered a huge performance in a crucial game, giving up just one run in 6 1/3 innings and delivering the lead to the lights-out Twins' bullpen. Jason Tyner collected two RBIs on groundouts. Luis Castillo and Nick Punto added RBIs in the ninth. '06 Twins 2, '76 Reds 0 WP: Johan Santana (4-1) LP: Fred Norman (2-2) The big red machine hits Johan Santana, as Santana pitched a complete game shutout. Santana allowed three hits and three walks, and struck out seven. Michael Cuddyer hit an RBI double in the first and Luis Castillo added an insurance RBI double in the ninth. '06 Twins win series 4-3 HUGE upset here, as the 2006 Twins continue to roll along. The Twins' bullpen makes them a formidable opponent in the late innings. The Twins advance to the finals. Up Next: '98 Yankees vs. '46 Red Sox

Curacao.

Honestly, is it really a surprise that wrestlers used steroids? I highly doubt any substantial fallout will come out of these revelations.

For those of you with Baseball Prospectus 2007, four players are missing from the book. The Pecota cards for those players (Wladimir Balentin, Adrian Beltre, Hernan Irabarren and Bob Wickman) are available on their website free of charge.

I agree Viva, if you have a guy who can start and pitch decently, he should be in the rotation. The only exception I would make is a rookie starter. Earl Weaver believed in a young pitcher serving an apprenticeship in the bullpen, and the Twins have enjoyed great success with Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano with that method.

Very true. At the end of last season, I though the White Sox would maybe be the favorites in the Central going into this year. I now have them as the fourth best team in the division and slipping. They still have the ability to be very good, but everyday Kenny Williams and Ozzie Guillen make it a little harder. PECOTA has them projected to win 72 games, which seems awfully low but there aren't a lot of reasons to be optimistic right now. Last year the Sox finished third in runs scored despite abysmal offensive seasons from Juan Uribe, Scott Podsednik and Brian Anderson. The Sox need to patch together a solution in left field, and I'm more inclined to give Kenny Williams the blame on that one.

Ripper responded well to the problems with children. I again repeat that an anarchistic society simply can not work. C-Bacon mentioned Hungary and Spain that were overthrown by military force. First, certain elements of anarchy in action do not add up to an anarchic society. Besides, the fact that a few anarchic governments occurred for a few months is certainly not an indication that such a government is better than others. Second, if military force destroyed them the first time, what is to prevent that from happening again? Again, examples in history indicate that in a power vacuum, someone will rise up to fill it. If you create a military to defend it, you first create a system of an army that violates your principles, and then you place a person in power with the means to exploit your system. Third, setting up community councils IS a system of government. The catch is that the natural order of society is to progress to a higher system to cure problems with the other system. This is what happened in virtually EVERY society in recorded mankind. If anarchy is such a great idea, why hasn't anyone done it?

Quarterfinals '01 Mariners (CriplerCrosface9) vs. '94 Expos (CanadianChris) '76 Reds (Imarkout4eldandy) vs. '06 Twins (Vern Gagne) '98 Yankees (Cena's Writer) vs. '46 Red Sox (humanoid92) '95 Braves (Smeus) vs. '86 Mets (Naiwf) The winners of these matchups will advance to the ultimate World Series. 1994 Montreal Expos (CanadianChris) vs. 2001 Seattle Mariners (CriplerCrosface9) '94 Expos 2, '01 MARINERS 1 WP: Butch Henry (2-0) LP: Freddy Garcia (2-1) Sv: John Wetteland (6) Moises Alou hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to break a scoreless tie and provide the only Expos runs of the game. Mike Cameron hit a solo home run in the seventh to provide the only Mariners run. '01 MARINERS 5, '94 Expos 0 WP: Jamie Moyer (2-1) LP: Pedro Martinez (0-2) A dominating performance from the then 38 year old Jamie Moyer, who allowed just three hits and walked none in a shutout victory. Carlos Guillen collected three RBIs, including a two-run home run. '01 Mariners 6, '94 EXPOS 2 WP: Aaron Sele (1-1) LP: Ken Hill (2-2) A subpar outing for Ken Hill who allowed five runs in his start. Ichiro Suzuki hit a solo home run, and Mike Cameron and Edgar Martinez added two RBIs apiece. '01 Mariners 8, '94 EXPOS 5 WP: Paul Abbott (1-1) LP: Jeff Fassero (2-2) Sv: Kazuhiro Sasaki (4) Jeff Fassero allowed six runs in the first two innings. From there the Expos burned through their bench and bullpen to attempt a comeback, but fell short. Norm Charleton struck out Larry Walker with the bases loaded in the eighth to preserve the 8-5 lead. '01 Mariners 3, '94 EXPOS 1 (16 Innings) WP: Jose Paniagua (1-0) LP: John Wetteland (1-1) Marquis Grissom homered in the first, Bret Boone homered in the seventh. The Expos' bullpen usage in game four left them with only Mel Rojas and John Wetteland available. Wetteland pitched six scoreless innings before finally allowing a two-run home run to Mike Cameron in the sixteenth. Talk about your tough losses. 2001 Mariners win series 4-1 Up Next: '06 Twins vs. '76 Reds

I apologize. I had a personal issue that kept me away from home all day. 1995 Atlanta Braves (Smeus) vs. 2004 Houston Astros (UTBroward) '04 Astros 3, '95 Braves 2 WP: Andy Pettitte (1-0) LP: John Smoltz (1-1) Sv: Brad Lidge (5) Jeff Kent hit a two-run home run in the third to give the Astros a 3-0 lead, and the Astros held on to win. '95 Braves 9, '04 Astros 2 WP: Steve Avery (1-1) LP: Brandon Backe (2-2) Javy Lopez broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth with a grand slam. The floodgates opened and the Astros' pitching struggled. Jeff Bagwell drove in both runs for the Astros. '95 Braves 4, '04 Astros 1 WP: Greg Maddux (2-1) LP: Chad Harville (0-1) Sv: Mark Wohlers (2) David Justice's three-run home run in the eighth gave the Braves the lead. The Greg Maddux/Roger Clemens duel saw both pitchers give up one run in seven innings of work. '04 Astros 4, '95 Braves 0 WP: Roy Oswalt (2-0) LP: Tom Glavine (1-1) Jeff Kent hit a home run and collected three RBIs. Roy Oswalt pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out nine batters in the victory. '95 Braves 4, '04 Astros 2 WP: John Smoltz (2-1) LP: Andy Pettitte (1-1) Sv: Mark Wohlers (3) Jeff Blauser's two-run double in the fifth turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead, and the Braves shut down the Astros the rest of the way. '95 Braves 6, '04 Astros 3 WP: Steve Avery (2-1) LP: Brandon Backe (0-3) Sv: Mark Wohlers (4) The Astros took an early 2-0 lead, but the Braves scored all six runs in the middle innings. Ryan Klesko and Javy Lopez both collected two RBIs apiece. Steve Avery pitched seven solid innings for the victory. '95 Braves win series 4-2 The Astros machine finally hits a snag as the Braves' elite pitching staff comes through. The Braves advance to play the '86 Mets in the quarterfinals. Up Next: Quarterfinals!

The 2004 World Series occurred after Wrestlemania XIV, so that wouldn't make a difference. The only real competition would be the 1995 playoffs, and maybe a football game here and there.

Twelve teams is the maximum. After that it becomes a battle just to find guys who even play.

I spent the morning shoveling out from 18" of snow. At least the Phils are on tv regaled in green.

The Mets traded Beane before the season.

1986 New York Mets (naiwf) vs. 1984 Detroit Tigers (MFerXtreme87) This is the only occurance I am aware of where the same player (Howard Johnson) plays for both clubs. '86 Mets 4, '84 Tigers 1 WP: Bob Ojeda (1-1) LP: Jack Morris (0-1) Sv: Roger McDowell (3) Darryl Strawberry's two-run home run in the second gave the Mets all the runs they needed. Bob Ojeda gave up just one run in eight weeks of work. '84 Tigers 3, '86 Mets 2 WP: Dan Petry (2-0) LP: Sid Fernandez (1-1) Sv: Willie Hernandez (2) Back-to-back doubles from Darrell Evans and Larry Herndon in the fifth gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead and they held on for the win. '86 Mets 8, '84 Tigers 0 WP: Dwight Gooden (3-0) LP: Milt Wilcox (0-1) Ray Knight's three-run home run gave the Mets a 5-0 lead in the sixth inning. Gary Carter added two RBIs of his own and Doc Gooden pitched seven scoreless innings. '84 Tigers 4, '86 Mets 1 WP: Juan Berenguer (1-0) LP: Ron Darling (1-2) Sv: Willie Hernandez (3) The Mets took an early lead on Gary Carter's sacrifice fly. The Tigers tied the game in the fifth thanks to a solo home run by Darrell Evans. Lance Parrish drove in a run on a groundout in the sixth, and Lou Whitaker drove in two runs with a double in the seventh. '84 Tigers 4, '86 Mets 3 WP: Jack Morris (1-1) LP: Bobby Ojeda (1-2) Sv: Willie Hernandez (4) Tied 2-2 in the seventh, a two-out error by Rafael Santana allowed two runs to score. The Mets loaded the bases in the ninth and brought a run across, but Willie Hernandez induced a groundout from Lenny Dykstra to end the game. '86 Mets 2, '84 Tigers 1 WP: Sid Fernandez (2-1) LP: Dan Petry (2-1) Sv: Roger McDowell (4) Solo home runs from Darryl Strawberry and Lenny Dykstra gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. The Tigers threatened in the ninth and scored a run, but Roger McDowell shut the door to force a game seven. '86 Mets 6, '84 Tigers 3 WP: Dwight Gooden (4-0) LP: Milt Wilcox (0-2) Sv: Roger McDowell (5) Lance Parrish hit a three-run home run to give the Tigers an early lead. In the second however, a two-out single by Doc Gooden extended the inning for Lenny Dykstra, who hit a game-tying three-run home run to tie the game. Lenny Dykstra hit a second home run and Gary Carter hit one as well. Dwight Gooden shut down the Tigers after the rough first inning to lock down the victory. '86 Mets win series 4-3 These games were won in the early innings as both bullpens shut down their opponents. The Mets await the winner of the Braves/Astros series. Up Next: 2004 Astros vs. 1995 Braves